I Believe That There's Hope
by BlueRoseRabbit
Summary: Previously titled "Treklock". Kirk had only had 72 cryopods in his possession when they needed to put Khan in one, and all but one of those pods were full. The pod that was empty was the one that Kirk was put into to be healed. The original inhabitant of that pod, when removed, was put into a coma. What if that original inhabitant had been Khan's best friend, Doctor John Watson?
1. 1024 Percent Done

Nyota Uhura stayed very close to Spock after she, Spock, and the unconscious Khan were beamed up onto the ship. McCoy had immediately taken custody of Khan and had his medical staff take Khan away so they could extract some of his blood. Uhura took this moment where Spock was struggling to reign in his anger to take Spock into a secluded area and explain how Khan was going to save Jim. Spock was very quiet during the explanation. When she was through he put his head in his hands, and then he stood up and made his way back to the bridge, where Sulu, Chekov, and the others were waiting.

"Due to the fact that the Captain is...unable to report for duty and I have been...emotionally compromised, Sulu shall stand as acting captain. Please go about your normal duties while the Captain is being...treated." Spock announced in monotone. The only way to detect emotion in him at this point was by looking at his red-rimmed eyes and by hearing the strained pauses in his speech.

* * *

Spock made his way to his friend's side as quickly as he could. At least, he tried to. He was denied admittance to the sickbay immediately upon arrival.

"May I inquire as to why the Doctor has seen fit to deny my admittance?" Spock asked the nurse at the door with as much patience he could muster.

"Doctor McCoy said, and I quote, 'Don't let that pointy eared son of a bitch anywhere near the terrorist. He'd kill him for sure and then where would we be.' End quote. Do not take offense. He is just rather desperate to save Captain Kirk's life, and your friendship with the Captain and your desire for vengeance may endanger our resurrection mission." The nurse smiled sadly, her blue skin, having paled a bit at Spock's angry approach, regaining some of its color as Spock saw the logic in her words and calmed down.

"I see." Spock swallowed, closed his eyes a moment, and then straightened and looked at her right in the eye (she only had the one eye, the other had been gouged out three years ago and was now sitting in a glass jar on a distant planet in the office of a two-headed space pirate). "Send someone to my quarters at once if there is any- I mean, when there is news."

The nurse nodded, so Spock moved on.

* * *

When Spock had fought Khan down on Earth, he had used the mind meld technique on him at least twice. The fight was sort of blending together in his memories now. He would, however, always remember the moments when he and Khan had (involuntarily, at some points) shared emotions and thoughts.

Khan had felt the emotions that Spock had when Vulcan was destroyed [sorrow loss devastation], when his mother died [sorrow loss rage], when Kirk had died [sorrow loss rage], when Nyota had kissed him for the first time [arousal confusion joy], when the boys in school had insulted his mother [rage], and when his father had told him why he married Spock's mother, both times, the one where the reason was "logical" [disappointment sadness] and the one where the reason was "love" [pride confusion sorrow happiness]

Spock had felt a sliver of the pain of the "experiments" (torture) that Admiral Marcus and his crew had performed on Khan. Spock had also felt the emotions that Khan had when he was being put to sleep [fear sorrow exhaustion], when he was threatened by Marcus into submission [fear rage fury], when his attempt to smuggle away his crew had been discovered [fear bitterness anxiety failure], all the times when he thought his crew had been killed [devastation loss rage sorrow], and when he had crushed Marcus's skull [satisfaction].

Spock had also accidentally shared memories with Khan. Luckily for Spock, Khan had been unable to manipulate Spock with those memories (Spock was doing the right thing, his mother was dead, boyhood memories were useless to Khan). Of course, the memory of McCoy persuading Spock to keep Khan's crew on board the Enterprise and detonate empty torpedoes on Khan's ship had caused Khan to feel many emotions [elation surprise doubt], but that wasn't that bad, because it helped Spock counter-attack against Khan while his guard was down.

Memories of Khan's, of one "John Watson", were very useful to Spock's counter-attack. He had used the memories to take Khan off guard and hurt him.

_What would John say about this? About you killing people, killing_ [Captain Kirk / Jim / my best friend / that human who cheated and hacked my test / James Tiberius Kirk / Captain] _just to save John and seventy one other people's lives? John would not approve._

Because just as Captain Kirk had Commander Spock, Captain Khan had had Commander Watson.

Spock had used Khan's friendship _(Spock hated that this murderer could have friends)_ with John Watson, resulting in Khan's improved efforts to crush Spock's skull to make him stop _(He'd really have to see Dr. McCoy about that later, he had a headache)_.

All of this did not help Spock classify Khan in the "hatred" category of his mind. Logically, Spock knew that his own opinion did not matter in the trial that would surely take place, and the only things that would matter were the facts: Khan had caused the deaths of millions of humans, Khan was a wanted criminal, Khan has been wronged, Khan has no conscience _(except for his John, but his John isn't awake now, is he?)_.

But Spock wanted to hurt Khan oh so much. Khan had hurt Spock's crew. Khan had hurt Spock's best friend, Kirk. One way to hurt Khan could've been to have left Khan's crew in the torpedoes when he allowed Khan to beam them onto his ship and they blew up, but McCoy had objected, asking him if he wanted the deaths of seventy two innocents on his conscience. Spock had responded with "They may not be all that innocent, Doctor," but he had allowed them to be removed anyway.

Spock's inner turmoil was interrupted by a swift rap on his door _(how did he get to his room and how long had he been in there?)_, which he promptly answered.

"Captain Kirk is alive, but he is not conscious." The nurse _(not the blue one this time)_ told him. Spock let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding [relief] and his shoulders sagged for a brief moment. The nurse eyed him with concern written all across his plain, human face.

"Right." Spock blinked, straightened, and regained an official air about him. The nurse relaxed. "And what has become of Khan?" Spock asks coldly. The nurse tenses again.

"Dr. McCoy is using lots of sedatives to keep him unconscious, sir." The nurse said. "The doctor would like me to tell you that we may have further need of Khan's blood, so, quote, 'keep your green-blooded paws off him because I am 1024% done with corpses. I don't need any more.' End quote." The nurses shifted uneasily. Apparently, he wasn't as calm about "sassing" (as the Captain would say) Spock as McCoy or the blue nurse were.

"I see. Very well. You may return to your station and inform the good doctor that I shall do as he asks. If he needs me I shall be in the bridge, acting as captain in Captain Kirk's stead." Spock nodded to the nurse and walked out around him.

Some captaining would be good. Spock felt that he had a good enough handle on his emotions now to do a good job, and being captain served as a nice distraction in case of his emotional lockdown trying to fail.

Spock, to quote the Doctor, was "1024% done" with emotions.

* * *

Bones McCoy had taken Jim out of the cryo-freeze-thingy as soon as he could. He couldn't put Khan in there because he might need his blood on short notice, so he drugged up Khan and had him manacled down to a cot set up next to Jim's sickbed. There were guards with phasers posted there always.

McCoy had completely forgotten about Khan's crew member he had put in a coma when he took him out of the cryo-thing so Jim could go in it.

This man in a coma had a name that no one conscious, other than Spock, knew.

That name was John.

John Watson.


	2. Best of Friends

A group of humans had "created" (experiment after experiment after experiment was done on human after human after human until finally something worked) super-humans to help them fight the Eugenics Wars.

After the Eugenics Wars, humanity wanted the superhumans destroyed since they were no longer useful, and could be seen as a threat to humanity. Hundreds of superhumans were killed or sentenced to death, but three shiploads (237 superhumans, to be precise) escaped into space. There were three ships: The SS Coordinates, the SS Botany Bay, and the SS Harrow; each stolen, each carrying super humans who would later call each other family.

The SS Coordinates, carrying 84 super humans, met its untimely end when it was drawn into the gravitational pull of a star and it burned up.

The SS Harrow had 81 super humans living on it when it was torpedoed by an unknown foe. Two super humans escaped in an evacuation pod and were found by the SS Botany Bay, which had 72 super humans on it until the two super humans joined them, for a grand total of 74 living super humans remaining.

* * *

Captain Khan Noonien Singh left the bridge to go to the sickbay. He wasn't injured, no, not many of them ever got injured; it was to see the two people they had just rescued.

"Permission to enter, Doctor," Khan asked, though it was really a formality. Neither the doctor nor Moli Hoopa, his top nurse, did much, and Khan could've entered with or without permission from them.

"Granted, Captain." Doctor Myk Stamford straightened and gestured for him to come in right away. The doctor led Khan to two sickbeds, where two people lay. One, the taller of the two with longer hair, was unconscious. The shorter one, however, seemed perfectly fine other than the shoulder and leg bandages. Both limbs (left shoulder, right leg) seemed to have suffered extensive damage, meaning that they'd be healed perfectly in no time if no complications arose. Judging by the statistics and data on the medical displays, both persons were super human.

"Doctor John Hamish Watson, at your service, Captain." The short man with sandy blonde hair and haunted eyes said, holding out a hand for Khan to shake. Khan raised an eyebrow at this, not expecting it, but shook the man's hand anyway.

This man obviously did not know who he was other than the fact that he was a captain, judging by his lack of awe and his barely hidden confusion.

"This is Harry Watson-"

"Your brother?" Khan asked, eying the similar sandy blond hair and the similar facial features, though this one (an alcoholic, judging by the smell, stains on clothing, and occassional tremor of the unconscious hand, probably from withdrawal), albeit taller, seemed to be a bit slimmer and the pants and shirt fit a bit oddly-

"Sister. Harry is short for Harriet." John Watson gave quick, tired little smile.

"Sister." Khan looked Harriet Watson up and down again. The uniforms were unigendered, so women and men could both either wear the pants and shirt or the short dress, but most women tended to go for the dress.

"Sorry, but, um, where am I? And, uh, could you tell me your name?" John Watson was still talking.

"I am Khan Noonien Singh. You are on the ship the SS Botany Bay. Welcome aboard, Doctor. Am I correct in assuming that you and your alcoholic sister are super human, as the rest of us are?" Khan stared at Watson as his face developed an astonished expression.

"How did you know she was an alcoholic?" Watson asked. Strange. Most would probably have asked how he knew that they were super human, but of course this was a doctor. He probably knew that Khan would have access to the medical display.

"A smell of alcohol mixed in with the smell of fuel from the ship lingers on her, along with the stains here and there on her uniform. Also," Khan picked up her communicator. "These scratch marks here are from where she went to plug it in to charge but her hands were shaking. Never see a sober person's communicator with them; never see a drunkard's communicator without them." Khan gave Doctor Stamford a nod. "When he is feeling better, put him in a room in the 221 quarter. Afternoon."

* * *

When Khan needs someone to talk to, he goes down to the sickbay to see John. John works there, looking for cures to illnesses, even though Khan tells him that it's no use, "Even if we come up with cures for human illnesses they won't take us back."

"Maybe they will. You never know," says John.

If John isn't in the sickbay, he might be on the bridge, giving Khan advice or stopping him from going on a murder spree due to boredom. Maybe John is in his living quarters, writing entries for the Captain's Log since, as he puts it, "No one could get through this, they'd fall asleep after the first word. Let me make it a bit less...thick." Khan thinks that if he were human, John could've been a writer or a blogger.

John has never held back his opinions in fear of one of Khan's emotional outbursts. John talks to Khan as if he were his equal, even though he's just a doctor and Khan is a Captain. Khan likes that in John, and even though he's never told him so, he's certain that John has figured it out by now.

If Khan feels doubt, he goes to John. If he needs advice, he goes to John. If he needs someone to just compliment him or tell him "it's all fine, everything's fine," he goes to John.

Everyone on the ship is his family, but John may just be the most important one of them all. Not even Khan's older brother Mykhoft was as close to him as John was. Mykhoft was Lieutenant Commander and often tried to speak to Khan because he worried about him, constantly, and even Lestradd tried to get close to Khan, but none of them could reign Khan in if he was out of control. None but John.

One time, Khan had wanted a Tribble.

"We could call him Gladstone," Khan begged, but John was having none of it.

"You only want a Tribble so you can conduct experiments on it, and you're not even supposed to be in the sciences department, you're our captain, for god's sake! We're not getting one."

Doctor John Hamish Watson always insisted on inspecting every last member of a landing party or anyone who went out on a mission immediately after they returned, even if they insisted that they were "bloody super humans and they didn't need inspecting since it was almost impossible for them to get injured." Khan secretly appreciated it, because John would always report to him afterward and tell him that everyone was safe and fine, which always gave Khan a relieved sort of feeling. His family was safe.

John was also not bad at making tea. In fact, he was very good, and Khan was seldom seen without a cup of tea in hand or John following him, saying "Yes, I know we can survive without nutrition for long periods of time, but can you please just eat something?" and then after no response, a sigh, and "Fine, whatever, just drink some bloody tea. Please."

John and Khan were the best of friends.


	3. Empty Sickbay

It was warm.

Not hot, not freezingly cold, but warm.

This was new.

John groaned as he forced his eyes open. He was lying on a cot in an empty sickbay, alone, and he was wearing his commander's uniform. He still remembered the day he had been presented it, the day that Commander Powers had died. He had protested, "Damnit, I'm a doctor, not a commander!" but he had accepted it all the same, just as Khan (_that bastard_, he thought affectionately) had known he would. The color of his shirt had not changed, but his status had.

When John had taken it upon himself to freeze the crew in the cryopods, he had been expecting upon awakening that a nice officer of some ship or another or maybe just some doctor would be there with Khan, and the rest of the cryopods would be lined up and ready for the next activation. He had expected Khan to be coldly civil with him while trying to hide a desperately relieved expression, and he expected to be shown a bloody tea making machine of some sort because Khan knew that after something stressful, John bloody wanted some bloody tea.

John sat up. He looked around, and upheld his assessment that he was quite alone. Well, might as well find Khan. He'd know what was going on. He always did.

He walked out of the sickbay on unsteady feet (which gradually became more steady; John suspected that his muscles were just getting themselves warmed up again after having been frozen for god knows how long, and really, why does this have to make him so sore?!) and ducked around a different corner when he saw a few nurses and the head doctor (he can tell by the shirt) coming back to the sickbay. He wondered where they had been. He didn't recognize them; maybe with the new ship Khan had needed more than seventy two other people to operate it. This certainly wasn't the Botany Bay (Khan had hated that name, but Una Hudson had loved it, and Khan had never been able to deny her anything; they were like siblings, almost, but Una mothered him a bit). John continued down this new corridor and ended up colliding with a balding, swearing man in a red shirt.

"I am so sorry," John said, helping the man up (John himself had not fallen down, he was a superhuman, he was stronger than that). He did not recognize this man; another hired help, then?

"Sorry." The man apologized as well. He had a Scottish accent. "Didn't see ya there. I 'aven't seen you 'round before, what's your name, then?" The Scottish man squinted at him as if trying to remember his name.

"I'm John Watson, hi, just woke up." John held out his hand for the man to shake. The man looked confused, but he shook his hand anyway.

"Montgomery Scott, nice ta meet cha." The redshirt scratched the back of his head. John figured that since he was new, he wouldn't know Khan by name (or by first name, anyway, and John had the hardest time remembering how to pronounce the rest of it) so John decided to ask for the captain.

"Sorry, but I'm kind of lost. Could you take me to see the captain, please, it's urgent." John requested, shifting his weight from his right leg to his left. His right leg was taking a longer time in warming up than his left was, and it irritated him.

"Sure, sure, I was goin' up ta see 'im anyway." Scott briskly started walking away. John followed.

* * *

When Leonard McCoy entered this sickbay, he immediately sensed that something was off. He had returned from arguing with Jim that Jim "needed some more goddamn rest, he had only been recovering from death for a year, damnit," and hadn't been feeling rather happy in the first place, and this new feeling of unease was not helping.

"Sir, it appears that our patient is missing," said a blue, one-eyed nurse. McCoy stared at her.

"What patient?"

"Small man, sandy blonde hair, humanoid..." She watched him for any signs of recognition.

"Yeah, I kinda remember him. Why was he here again?" It dawned on McCoy slowly.

"I am not sure, he arrived at the same time Captain Kirk did, so we got a bit distracted and didn't pay him much attention." The nurse said sheepishly. McCoy blanched.

"Say that again," he told her.

"What? Um, I said, 'I'm not sure, he arrived at the same time Captain Kirk did, so-"

McCoy swore and grabbed a comm. "Spock, we've got a super human loose on the ship."

* * *

_Hey, I was wondering, how do you think John should meet the rest of the Enterprise? Leave me a suggestion or two, if you don't mind!_


	4. I Don't Believe We've Met

_"Spock, we've got a goddamn super human loose on the ship."_

Spock froze in place.

"Arm a small crew. I am coming to the sickbay. We shall hunt him down." Spock responded, having snapped back to reality quickly from that dark, dark place in his mind where terror and rage were stored.

"Commander Spock, vhat is going on?" Asked Chekov.

"Arm yourselves," Spock commanded the people on the bridge. "A super human has woken from his coma and is wandering around the Enterprise."

* * *

John followed Montgomery Scott all the way to what must have been the captain's quarters. John's heart quickened at the thought of seeing Khan again. He wondered what he'd say. Scott rapped on the door.

"It's Scotty!" Montgomery ("Scotty") Scott yelled through the door. The door slid open with a hiss.

"Ah, Scotty, it's good to see you. I'd get up and greet ya but Bones told me to get some rest." A handsome, well-built blonde young man sat up in bed. He had bright, intelligent blue eyes and a smile that would've been infectious if John hadn't been so confused and surprised. A book had been discarded upon John's and Scotty's entrance.

"S'alright, sir, just came ta check on ya. Oh, and this here is John Watson, he said his business with ya was urgent so I brought 'im up. Don't mind, do ya?" Scotty responded.

"It's fine. Hello, John, I don't believe we've met. Captain James Tiberius Kirk." Captain(John was still a bit confused about this) Kirk offered his hand for John to shake. John shook it out of habit and flashed a smile he didn't feel.

"I'll leave ya to it, then." Scotty nodded respectfully to Kirk and left.

"So, how can I help you? I hope it's not anything physical, Bones restricted me to my bed to recover. I mean, it's been a year since the attack and he _still _won't let me go and work? Really, that guy worries too much. Pass me that bowl of apples, would you?" Kirk gestured to a bowl of shiny red apples that were just a bit out of reach. John wordlessly passed the bowl to him. Something wasn't right here.

"Want one?" Asked Kirk. John shook his head. He didn't have much of an appetite now.

Kirk continued talking. "I mean you'd think that after saving his and everyone else's sorry asses from Khan I'd get a bit more leeway around here, but- Hey, you alright?"

John felt like he had suddenly lost the ability to breathe. He blanched and sat stock still.

"I'm sorry, I've been ranting, haven't I? We still haven't discussed your problem." Kirk apologized, thinking that his talking was the reason for John's stiffness.

John swallowed nervously and found his voice. "You said, 'saving them from Khan-'"

The door slid open suddenly. John and Kirk turned to look at the Vulcan who entered quickly and spoke before taking note of who was present. "Captain, I have come to inform you that a super human is loose on the sh-"

The Vulcan's eyes locked on John and he stopped speaking. Kirk looked from the Vulcan to John and he suddenly made the connection.

And then about five phasers were pointed at him as a few red shirts and a yellow shirt entered the room.

* * *

_I wanted to give you a chapter before I had to go on vacation. I'm going to the beach for the Fourth of July and I have band camp the week after, so I won't be able to update. Sorry._


	5. Where The Hell Is My Bloody Tea!

_Be prepared for me failing on British terminology and Chekov's accent. I'm a bit not good, sorry._

* * *

Kirk looked at the Vulcan, then John (who had decided that it would be wise to put his hands up in surrender), then back to the Vulcan again. "Spock, what the hell is going on?! You don't mean to say that this guy is one of Khan's-?!"

"Yes. This is Commander John Watson." Spock's face was passive.

"Hello," said John. He licked his lips nervously. Kirk stared at him with wide eyes, as did a few red shirts. The yellow shirt (just a kid, probably only seventeen or eighteen) fidgeted nervously. John wondered what Khan had done to make these people hate him.

Or maybe they just hated super humans in general and Khan was just the one they happened to mention. John had hoped that when he awoke their wouldn't be this sort of hate anymore. Apparently the time hadn't come yet.

"Mr. Chekov, please contact the bridge and let them know that we have found the super human. I have to say, Dr. Watson, I am surprised. How did you escape your pod and hide on the ship? Who aided you?" Spock kept his phaser trained on John as the yellow shirt (Chekov) left the room.

"About that- where am I, exactly?" John asked.

A pause.

"And just to clear things up, I only woke up a few moments ago. I don't know who you are. I was not in a cryopod. I was completely alone. I had hoped and expected to find Khan in this room, not James Kirk." John felt bolder with every passing moment. He had been a soldier in the British army before the super human experimentation, and a captain at that. He could also easily kill everyone in the room if he had to.

Kirk snorted. "It's hard to believe that anyone ever 'hoped' to meet that bastard." He muttered.

John stiffened. "Watch your mouth," he said sharply.

Kirk flinched at first (a reflex), but then looked at John incredulously. "You've got multiple phasers pointed at you, and just so you know they're probably not set to stun, and you have the audacity to tell _me _to watch my mouth?"

"That's my best friend and captain you're talking about, and I'm perfectly capable of killing everyone in this room." John met Kirk's gaze with his own quietly angry one. "Speaking of which, I'm obviously not going to kill you, because I would have already if I wanted to, so can we please put down the phasers and discuss things like civilized people? And someone fetch me some tea. Good tea, not that nasty American stuff." John dropped his arms (holding them up in surrender served no purpose now) and sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation.

The red shirts fidgeted and looked to Spock for guidance. Spock paused a moment as if considering it, and then lowered his phaser, signaling for the others to do the same.

"Spock!" Kirk exclaimed in a shocked voice.

"Sir, I brought Doctor McCoy," Chekov ran into the room with a brown haired human doctor (blue shirt and medical insignia) who glanced around the room and noticed that everyone was not relaxed, but no one was yelling any threats. The doctor also noticed that John seemed a bit more agitated than the rest of them (and was far more dangerous).

"Alright, Mr. Sandy-blonde, I'm just gonna give you a little injection to calm ya down, yeah?" The doctor said.

"No, thank you," said John, "and don't even try sneaking up on me with the injectors. I'll snap your neck faster than you can say 'sickbay'." John looked up.

"You'd snap my neck? But you're a doctor!" McCoy exclaimed. Apparently he had thought that even super human doctors didn't take lives.

"I was also a soldier. I've had bad days." John paused. "In fact, today has been particularly unpleasant. Where the hell is my bloody tea?"

"I'll go get it, sir." The yellow shirt, Chekov, sent Spock and Kirk apologetic glances and fled the room.

"Lovely. Now that we've all agreed to be civilized, can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?" John looked at them all with exasperation.

"Spock, can you do one of those mind meld things to show this guy what happened?" Kirk asked Spock. They shared a glance. John knew what that meant. They had a plan for something. Maybe Spock would try and hack his memories during the mind meld. John didn't particularly care. He was too worried about Khan to be concerned for his own memories.

* * *

Pavel Chekov walked back to Captain Kirk's room as quickly as he could while carrying the tray of tea and coffee. He had known that the others would want beverages if they were going to be civilized, so he had brought something for everyone. He almost ran into Mr. Scott in the halls.

"So sorry, Meezter Scott," said Chekov quickly.

"S'fine. Who's the tea and coffee for?" Scott asked curiously.

"Zhey're having a meeting of sorts in Keptin Kirk's room," Chekov told him.

"Who's having a meeting?"

"Commander Spock, Keptin Kirk, and zhe super human John Watson." Chekov confided. Scott blanched.

"Super human?! I led a super human to Jim's room?! Hell, what've I done?!" Scott continued to swear and started running towards the captain's room.

"Meezter Scott, vait! It's okay now, zhey are going to be zivilized because John Watson does not know vhat is going on and he does not want to kill us." Chekov beamed at Scott when he caught up with him as if he was delivering the news that someone had just given him a puppy.

Scott and Chekov ended up walking to Captain Kirk's room together. Scott was really nervous. Chekov guessed that it was because he had could've accidentally caused Kirk's death after he had just come back to life.

When they entered the room, Spock was withdrawing his hand from a pale and shaking John Watson's face. John Watson's hands clenched and unclenched, and he looked like he'd just watched his only friend fall off a building or something traumatizing like that. He reached out and took a cup of tea off of Chekov's tray and held it with trembling hands.

"Ah, Mr. Scott. Is there something wrong? Are the engines stable?" Spock asked upon seeing Scott's upset expression.

"No, no, she's fine," Scott said impatiently referring to the ship. "I just wanted to apologize to you, Jim, because I didn't know 'at 'e was a super human an' all that an' ya could've died an'-" Montgomery Scott's understandable English got progressively worse as he panicked and his talking rate sped up.

"Scotty, Scotty, easy there, it's fine. It's not your fault. Hell, even I didn't know he was a super human. I wouldn't have known at all if Spock hadn't come." Kirk said soothingly. "Dr. Watson here isn't going to hurt us. Right, Spock?"

"I do not believe so, Captain."

"No," Watson spoke up suddenly, "no, I won't kill you. I just- I need a moment. I can't believe- No, I _can_ believe it, I just don't want to." He blinked rapidly, as if trying to hold back tears. He drew a shaky breath. "Can I just-"

"Doctor McCoy, please escort Doctor Watson to a room and place a guard in front of it. I think he needs a bit of time to himself. He's had quite a shock." Jim sent an almost sympathetic glance to the super human as a few red shirts helped Dr. Watson to his feet and supported him as they took him out of Kirk's room.

When they were gone, Kirk let out a shaky breath.

"Did you show him what Khan did, Commander? Using your mind-thing?" Scott asked.

"I showed him everything Khan did. Admiral Pike, San Francisco, what little I knew of Admiral Marcus, Captain Kirk's temporary death, member's of the crews' death, and the first bombing." Spock said. What Spock didn't say was that he had also shown John Watson Khan and Spock's accidental mind melds during the battle and Khan crying for his family. For his John.

* * *

_going to band camp tomorrow. Won't be any new chapters for at least another week. Sorry._


	6. Questions, Blame, And Storytelling

Jim Kirk smiled at Spock appreciatively. "Good. Glad you've showed him all that Khan did. Did you get any memories out of him that could be useful? Is he a good guy, or a bad guy?"

Spock raised an eyebrow at Jim as if to say, "Really, Captain, I expected better of you." Instead, he said, "I took a brief glance through his memories. He was a doctor and a Captain in the British army before retiring and then volunteering for the superhuman experiments. He signed on because his sister had joined, and he wanted to keep an eye on her. Apparently she was an alcoholic. He met Khan when Khan rescued him and his sister from the wreckage of their ship. The pair were the only survivors."

"Wait, there were two ships?" Asked Jim.

"Three. One burned up in a star, one was torpedoed and had two survivors, and one was captured by Admiral Marcus hundreds of years later." Spock reported smoothly.

"Wow." Scotty whistled in awe.

"Yes. Dr. Watson was promoted to Commander of Khan's ship when Commander Powers died. Also, I believe you wanted to know of Watson's loyalty to Khan?"

"Yeah, I wanted to know if maybe Johnny could be persuaded into helping Starfleet instead of terrorizing it, like Khan did." Kirk tossed an apple into the air and caught it again.

"I am not sure if that is possible. Have you ever heard of 'agape' **[A/N: 'ah-gah-pay']**, Captain?" Spock looked at them all with a blank expression on his face.

"Didn't it have to do with Christianity or something?"

"I know zhis one, sir!" Chekov raised his hand like a student in class.

"Very well, Ensign, tell the Captain what 'agape' is."

"It iz a Koine Greek vord tranzlated into 'love', vhich vas later classified in Christianity as love of Christ for humankind. Zhe vord does not have a real, specific religious connotation, and many people think of it az unconditional, zelf-zacrificing, thoughtful zort of love. Loyalty is also a word zhat comes to mind when one thinks of 'agape'." Chekov recited confidently. The instant he stopped speaking, though, he went back to his normal shy state and looked to Spock for approval.

Spock nodded. "Correct. That is what John Watson feels for Khan Noonien Singh, Captain."

"So...a strong sense of loyalty and friendship? Like, really, really strong?" Kirk struggled with the concept.

"I do believe you can compare it to your love for the Enterprise and everyone on it, Captain. Very self-sacrificing." Spock gave him a pointed look that would've been funny (he was showing emotions!) had it not been intimidating. Kirk winced.

Scotty cleared his throat. "I see. So...he'd die for him? Kill for him? Hunt down terrorists or get contaminated by radiation for him?"

"That and more. Singh feels the same way about Watson. And the rest of his crew, but mostlyWatson." Spock started walking toward the door.

"But it seems like there's nothing special about this guy. Why him?" Kirk asked.

"Even I cannot tell you that, Captain." Spock said.

It was only after Spock, Scotty, and Chekov had left Jim in peace did Jim Kirk realize that Spock had never answered Jim's initial, important question.

Was John Watson a "good guy" or a "bad guy"?

Jim now had another unspoken question.

Were there even those distinctions anymore?

* * *

John lay down on the cell bed quietly and stared at the ceiling. Doctor McCoy had given him a brief look-over and then had him escorted to the prison cells, which had walls of glass. It was strange. John felt Khan's presence in the cell, but no, that couldn't be right. Khan was...Khan was...where was Khan again?

Oh, right. Something about a cryotube with Starfleet. John's cryotube, apparently. Khan would be thrilled (sarcasm). _Khan's_ hate of Starfleet was matched only by _Mykhoft's_ hate of Starfleet.

John thought again of what Khan had done. Murder, so much murder, on a massive scale that almost rivaled the Eugenics Wars. And it was all John's fault.

Well, not entirely John's fault, but John believed that it was his. His blame process went like this:

John had been the one to suggest the cryotubes, after all, in hopes of waking to a better future. Khan had told the crew that it was his idea so they would not question it after John and Mykhoft had privately convinced him it was the best possible solution. So, the cryotubes were John's fault. Then, to top that off, when Khan woke up, John and the others had been stuck in the cryotubes with no awareness as to what was going on, and Admiral Marcus had used John and the rest against Khan and forced him to make weapons for warfare. So, Khan making weapons was John's fault. After that, when Khan had tried to rescue John and the other crewmembers, he had been discovered, and was forced to escape without them and hid alone. It was John's fault that Khan had to be all by himself. How lonely it must have been, with no one to talk to or confide in. Later, Khan had only tried to destroy the Enterprise to make sure that no one knew of Khan and John and the crew's escape, so all of those deaths on the Enterprise were John's fault. When the torpedoes exploded on Khan's ship and Khan thought that John and everyone else were dead, he crashed his own ship into San Francisco. Thousands of deaths there were John's fault.

John thought he should just remove himself so that no more bad things would happen. He seemed to be an underlying constant factor in these unfortunate events.

His consideration of suicide was interrupted when the yellow shirt, Chekon- no, Chekov- tapped on the glass to his cell nervously. John snapped up and moved to a stiff, military-like sitting position. Chekov jumped at the sudden movement, but then he calmed down.

"Er, I vas just wondering, sir, vhat is London like? If you don't mind me asking." Chekov fidgeted nervously and wouldn't meet his eyes.

John paused. That was unexpected. "Why do you want to know?"

"I had heard great stories about the place, but I haff never been. I vanted to visit it one day. And I figured zhat since you are British, you had been to London."

John got off of the bed (more like a cot, really) and walked over to the glass. He sat down crosslegged on the floor. Chekov blinked and looked down at him curiously.

John looked up at Chekov. "Well, sit down, then, get comfortable. Storytelling can take a while. And, mind you, I haven't been in- what did Spock show me- over three hundred years, wasn't it?- so I don't know what it's like now."

Chekov sat down eagerly and listened with wide eyes as John told him of crimes, food, people, plants, history, and just small, personal stories of a place John knew well.

* * *

_Over one hundred followers and there's only six chapters. __**Over one hundred living people**__ who read this. It's amazing. I'm ecstatic, you have no idea._


	7. Whatcha Gonna Do

_Sorry about the wait. I've been visiting family, friends, and a grave in another state, so I haven't had much time to write. I do hope you'll forgive me. Thank you! _

* * *

Jim Kirk was _soooo_ _booorreeedddd_.

He was running out of books to read, and he wasn't allowed to work. Stupid Bones and his orders. He just had to lay there and just wait for news. Spock could be out there flying them into Klingon space and Jim wouldn't know about it until they were being bombed!

Not that this did, could, or ever will happen. Spock was not an idiot. Jim could trust him to keep his ship safe. That didn't stop him from fidgeting with anxiety when he imagined everything that could go wrong since he wasn't there.

Jim suddenly felt sympathy for John Watson, sitting in his cell with nothing to do. He knew that Chekov had visited him earlier because Chekov had immediately visited Jim's room and asked forgiveness for acting out of line without orders (Jim had "forgiven" him- there was nothing to forgive, really, and the kid was too cute when he fidgeted and was all flustered with his little Russian accent).

Jim suddenly thought of something crazy.

Maybe he could go keep Watson company. Chekov did it, so why shouldn't he? They could be friends. They had a lot in common. Jim was hurt and Watson was in shock, they had both lost friends, and they both had "agape" or some shit like that.

_He's a super human. He could kill you, you dumbass, _said a voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Bones. That was his Bones-Conscience, he supposed. Spock's voice showed up in his head sometimes, too, and that was his Spock-Conscience. The Spock-Conscience had been there when he was fixing the ship and exposing himself to radiation, urging him on because it would save the ship. The Bones-Conscience had been there, too, telling him he should cut it out 'cause he was going to get himself fucking killed, but he had ignored it at the time. Jim decided to ignore it again now.

Jim grabbed his cane and eased himself out of bed. _Ow. Ow ow ow. Damn. _He wasn't quite fond of the pain in his- well, everywhere, actually. Everywhere hurt. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

_What did I tell ya? _Bones-Conscience said wryly. Jim was irritated at this, so he decided to proceed with his "mission" to talk to Watson.

It took him a while, but Jim eventually made it to John Watson's cell. Jim was pale and sweating by the time he got there, and his legs were shaking. Watson, who had been leaning back against a wall and staring at nothing, noticed immediately.

"Mr. Kirk, you look terrible, I'd offer you a seat, but I have none. Sit down on the floor and rest a bit, yeah?" Watson rushed over to the glass and looked like he wanted to mother Jim needlessly. Jim had stiffened at "Mr. Kirk" (that's what Khan had called him when Khan was in that cell), but relaxed when he realized that this guy was practically a softer, more British version of Bones, as far as Kirk's well-being was concerned. Hell, both of them were doctors, so it must be a universal doctor-of-Jim thing. Well, maybe not _universal_, Jim had known quite a few doctors that-

But Jim was innerly rambling. Focus was good. Focus let him sit down on the floor- wait, he was already on the floor. When had he sat down? He didn't remember sitting down. Why was he trembling?

"You've exerted yourself too much. You should not have walked so far without a rest or assistance." John gave him an exasperated, disapproving look and sat down in front of him (but behind the glass). He groaned a bit as he moved one of his legs into a crosslegged position with the other one, and Jim looked at it curiously.

"Is your leg hurt?" He asked once they were both seated comfortably.

"Just an old wound that acts up every now and again. It was fine earlier, but maybe sitting crosslegged twice on the same day that I've woken up wasn't too smart. I've done a bit of walking, too. I've exerted myself far too much for someone who's been sleeping for over three hundred years." John forced a smile and let out a breath of air. "What can I do for you?"

"I was just bored and thought I'd stop by." Jim was feeling much better already now that he had stopped moving.

John blinked in surprise. "Oh. Well, you're welcome to stay if you like."

"Weren't you bored?"

"I was...thinking. I'm used to silence, sometimes Khan wouldn't talk for days- Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to- Er, well-" John looked a bit flustered. It was hard to imagine this guy as a soldier or a killer.

Jim schooled his expression into something blank. "You know about the deaths he caused?"

John looked wary. "Yes."

"Spock says he was your friend."

John opened his mouth, closed it, looked away, blinked rapidly, swallowed, and replied in a husky voice: "Yes."

Jim raised an eyebrow at that response. A mass murdering terrorist had a friend that cared enough about him to hold back tears when thinking of his relative demise? _Well, Khan cried for his crew, too. Of course his crew would cry for him_, said a small voice in the back of his head. It wasn't Spock-Conscience or Bones-Conscience, for some reason.

Apparently, John Watson knew what he was thinking. His voice contained traces of anger. "He only killed your people because he was angry and scared. He made mistakes, yes, but he had reasons."

Jim thought of Pike and saw red. "He's a _murderer_."

They sat in silence for a moment, each staring at the other with an iron will.

Jim let out a breath and tried to calm down. His Bones-Conscience told him that getting too angry would not be good for his injured body. "Spock told you of the alias Khan was using, right?"

"John Harrison." John Watson murmured.

"Can you explain the name? I'm kind of curious now." Kirk thought that this was a safe enough topic.

"Well, I can only guess, but 'John' was probably for me." John swallowed painfully. "The 'Harri' in 'Harrison' might've been for my sister, Harriet; even though Khan doesn't like her very much, he knows that she's my sister and lets her stay with us. The 'son' in 'Harrison' might've been for Una Hudson, a pretty young woman who mothered Khan a bit. Una and Khan were closer to each other in a sibling sort of way than Khan and his actual sibling were. It was kind of funny, really." John smiled ruefully.

Jim desperately tried to process this information. His views on the super human killer-soldiers were not exactly stable anymore. "Khan had a sibling?"

"A brother. They didn't talk much and when they did talk they were practically at each other's throats. They had this odd sibling rivalry going on- A petty feud of some sort started the whole thing when they were young and it just escalated from there." John chuckled; finally, something genuinely happy.

"What was the brother's name?"

"Mykhoft."

Jim blinked. "Did they all have such odd names?"

"Khan and Mykhoft were adopted by an Indian couple when they were little and given those names. I don't know what their birth names were, but Khan thinks that his started with an 'S'." John explained.

"Ah."

They sat in silence for a moment before John spoke up.

"What are you going to do? With me, I mean?"

"What?"

"Well, you can't exactly put me in a cryotube, there aren't enough, obviously. What will you do? I have no desire to live the remainder of my life in this glass box, and you don't want me running around and 'wreaking havoc'." John snorted, but then became serious again. "I believe it's time you gave it a bit of thought. What happens now?"

* * *

_Okay, that last bit was John scolding me for not thinking this through very well. I have an idea or two, but..._

_Option A) John ends up stuck on the Enterprise for the five year mission in uncharted space (four years remaining). Longer fic. Requires more work and research from me. Possible reunion with Khan at the end, I dunno._

_Option B) The Enterprise drops John off at the first space station they find, and he hitches a ride back to Earth and either trades places in a cryopod with some crew member OR awakens Khan and everyone else and they escape._

_Option C) fill in the blank- leave an idea in a review or PM me!_

_These are all the ideas I have so far. Sorry. My brain is not cooperating. ;~; Please vote in a review! I know this has a hundred followers; just fifteen votes will suffice if you don't want to vote, but everyone has a figurative voice here! I'm writing for you guys!_

_Lots of love,_

_Rabbit_


	8. Welcome Aboard

_I think I'll end up doing a combo of the two options. I probably should've planned this out a little better, but oh well._

_I am trying very hard to keep everyone in character. Please inform me if I make a mistake._

* * *

Jim Kirk summoned Spock to his chambers immediately after leaving Watson and walking back to his room and bed. He felt better about walking that time.

"Yes, Captain?" Spock watched Jim with calmness on his face, but wariness in his eyes.

"I need to figure out what we're going to do with John Watson, and I want your support when I make my decision." Jim confided in his friend.

"The amount of support I give will depend on the plan, Captain." Spock said, raising an eyebrow.

Jim paused. "Right. That's kind of what I was expecting, I suppose." He shook his head to clear it. "Anyway, I was thinking that we could keep him on board until we head back to Earth."

"In confinement?"

"Well," Jim began uncertainly, "if he behaves he can come out and walk around for a bit."

"And what will we do when we get back to Earth?" Spock asked, his arched eyebrow only moving higher up his face.

"I dunno, Spock, I was planning on winging it." Jim admitted with irritation.

A moment of silence where Spock appeared to be thinking.

"Sir, if I may suggest something-"

"Be my guest." Jim said dryly.

Spock gave him a withering look before returning to his ordinary expressionless state and speaking. "I do not know much about this John Watson, but I do know that Khan listens to him, and that he is not quick to resort to cruelty or murder. I propose that we offer him a temporary position on the ship, and in our regular communications and reports to Starfleet, we attempt to convince them that, on our return, it would be prudent to take all of the super humans and allow them to live on a small planet we might discover that is far enough from Earth that they will no longer be a threat. This way, John Watson will be well behaved and will cooperate in our remaining four years of exploration, and once we return every last one of them will no longer be anyone's problem."

Jim blinked in surprise. "You've put a lot of thought into this, Spock."

"It has been at the front of my mind for the past half hour, Captain." Spock admitted.

"I see." Jim thought it over. "We'll do it your way, then. Fine. We're going to have to convince the crew, though."

"Yes, but I do not think that will be too difficult. They worship the ground you walk on, Captain, and with my opinion to back you up, it should be, as you humans would put it, 'smooth sailing' from there on out." Spock reassured. "Though, I do believe you're forgetting something."

"What?"

"We have not asked John Watson if he will be willing to comply just yet. I am 93.2% sure that he will agree, but it is usually polite to inform someone when one makes decisions for them about their future." Spock said with the patience of a mild-mannered Bones.

"Oh, right. Well, better get to it, then. Walk me there?"

* * *

John stared at the ceiling patiently. He was waiting for Kirk to make a decision on what was going to happen to him. John wasn't just going to go along with something bad, though, if it came to that- he'd pretend, certainly, but he'd make an escape and fly to Khan if he had to. He wouldn't allow them to execute him or just drop him off on some unknown planet to live his days alone. He'd take control of the ship or something.

His plans to escape a terrible fate, whatever it would be, were interrupted when Kirk and the Vulcan came in and walked up to the glass. Kirk tapped on it with a grin on his face to get John's attention, even though he already had John's attention. Both Starfleet officers waited patiently as the shorter man walked up to the glass and assumed the military "at ease" position.

John tried very hard not to punch through the glass and demand answers. He was _almost_ shaking with anticipation. Almost.

"So, Mr. Watson," Kirk began with a smirk.

"Dr." Corrected Spock.

Kirk shot Spock an irritated look, and then John an apologetic one. "So,_ Dr. _Watson," he began again, "Spock and I have made a decision. You're-"

"We have not yet informed the rest of the crew, and they may not take it very well, so be warned." Spock interrupted smoothly. "You will be given a temporary position as a crew member on the ship for our four year space exploration journey. Upon our return to earth you shall be returned to your comrades."

Kirk looked at Spock with irritation again and took it from there. "During our space exploration trip, we'll be sending reports of your behavior and our space findings back to Starfleet. This should convince them to allow us to, on our return, take all of the super humans and give them their own planet to live on. Sound good?"

"Any bad behavior may result in your termination." Spock informed John.

"Spock!" Kirk protested.

"He deserves the warning," Spock argued.

John sat down heavily on the cot they provided him. He let all of the information go through his head.

"And if I refuse?" He asked.

Kirk blinked as if the possibility hadn't even occurred to him. "Well, I guess you could just stay in here for four years, but that could be boring."

John nodded. "Right. That's what I thought." He blinked and his thoughts rushed around, and he opted to take the one option open to him. He had no choice, really. It would help Khan and the others. _If you make it back alive,_ a small voice in his head whispered. _All kinds of things can go wrong in space._

John ignored it.

"Alright then. Thank you. I will accept your offer of a position on the ship. The, ah, Enterprise, wasn't it?" John paused as Kirk grinned and Spock nodded in approval. Then, something occurred to him. "What position are you offering me, anyway?"

Kirk's smile only widened. "You'll be helping Bones out and learning how modern day medicine works. You'll be in the medical bay."

"Right. That's good, then. Do you still stitch people up?" John asked curiously.

"Only in the most desperate of situations." Spock said as Kirk looked mildly repulsed.

John couldn't help it. His curiosity was getting the better of him. What would this medicine be like? "Shall we begin, then?"

* * *

_Okay, if any trekie out there will help me with research or suggest what kinds of stuff they're going to encounter in space, I would be really, really grateful._

_Things should pick up now, adventures and all that._


	9. We All Float On

_school is starting in a few weeks. I won't be updating as quickly, and I apologize in advance._

_Title inspired by number thirteen from 64damn-prompts dot livejournal dot com slash profile_

* * *

Jim Kirk stood by Spock cautiously as John Watson stepped from the cell. Neither Starfleet members believed that the doctor would attack them, but they were not above taking precautions. Both had phasers with them, and while Jim was feeling incredibly better (Bones had given him some hypo today that actually made him feel _good_), both knew that only Spock would have a chance against Watson in a fight.

But John Watson did not try to attack them at all. He merely stretched, his left shoulder popping, and blinked a little bit.

"Well, now that you're free, Mr. Watson, let's head on down to Bones' place." Jim said, turning to walk away, leaning on Spock just a little bit.

"It's _Dr._ Watson, Captain," Spock informed him, and Jim shrugged, shooting Dr. Watson an apologetic glance.

"Sorry, Doctor, I'm just used to calling people 'mister' all the time." Jim apologized.

Dr. Watson just gave a tight smile and followed them as they walked to the sickbay.

Bones was swearing under his breath as he looked through a medicine cabinet when they found him. Jim grinned, Spock was as expressionless as ever, and Dr. Watson looked slightly nervous, standing behind the two taller men.

"Bones, what's shaking?" Jim asked in a teasing voice. Bones jumped about four feet in the air and swore.

"Damnit, Jim, don't you sneak up on me like that!" Bones scolded. Then he looked suspicious. "Why are you down here? You hate this place more than an alley cat hates the river."

"Hey, Bones, what'd I tell ya about the metaphors?" Jim said with a disapproving look. Bones just snorted, so Jim got to the point. "You remember that super human guy we have on board?"

"Of course I do, I was the one who escorted that poor fella to his prison cell." The southern man sounded very suspicious now.

"Well, he's your new assistant!" Jim said with a grin, and then he bolted, not wanting to face Bones' wrath (and hypos).

He laughed until he was out of breath at the sounds of surprised and outraged yelling behind him.

* * *

The doctor called "Bones" (whose name happened to be McCoy, John remembered from earlier) spluttered and turned red as the captain ran off. "_What?!_ Spock, what the hell is he saying?! Was that-?!"

Spock's eyebrows twitched in what John deduced to be disapproval of his captain's actions. "Unlike Dr. Watson's currently sleeping companion, he harbors no ill will towards anyone on board the ship, and he would like to establish some semblance of peace between the super humans and Starfleet, and hopefully try to find a planet on our voyage that would be suitable for his kind to live on so that Earth would no longer be caring for them." Spock explained. McCoy's eyebrows went up several notches, but when he turned his gaze to John, he seemed to understand.

"Do excuse us for a moment," McCoy said to John, and he pulled Spock away to a place in the sickbay he probably thought was out of John's earshot. Unfortunately for them, John's super human hearing allowed him to listen to everything they said.

"What is it, Doctor?" Spock asked.

"Are you really sure about this? What if it's a trap or somethin'? I mean, I saw him all shaken up earlier, too, but this is a bit much. He's still a criminal!" Dr. McCoy hissed.

"If I am not mistaken, we on the Enterprise have no record of any criminal acts committed by Dr. Watson, only by his partner, Khan. Dr. Watson is a soldier, but he is also a doctor, he is kind, and he is not without sense. He will behave. Dr. Watson will do anything to be able to see Khan again." Spock reminded the doctor. McCoy fidgeted nervously, probably running through the options and arguments for and against John in his head, before finally stopping his motion and swearing.

"Fine." McCoy growled. "But I'm a doctor, not a babysitter."

"I understand, Doctor." Spock said, and then they both started walking back to John, who had disguised his eavesdropping by appearing to be looking through the medicine cabinet McCoy had been in earlier.

He looked over at them, pretending like he hadn't heard a thing. "Well?" He asked politely.

"You're going to be my new assistant, apparently." McCoy informed him.

"If you don't mind, I would like to start with learning about modern day medicine. I have been sleeping for over three hundred years, and I do not want to be useless if a crisis arises." John smiled hesitantly at McCoy, who relaxed, but only slightly.

"Well, c'mon, then, lets get you started."

* * *

Jim broke the news (and explained all of his reasoning) to the rest of the crew while McCoy taught Dr. Watson some modern day medicinal techniques. He informed those on the bridge first, and left it up to their discretion whether or not they wanted to inform anybody else. Scotty was present on the bridge at that time, simply because he was Jim's friend and needed to know. The crew took it quite well, considering the circumstances.

The Kid (Pavel Chekov) seemed okay with it, but then again, he'd talked to John before. Hikaru Sulu had some resignations, and he didn't look too happy, but seeing that his captain was fine with it as well as his buddy Chekov, he didn't protest too much. Nyota Uhura looked pretty reluctant, but she didn't say anything. Scotty was okay. He was still a bit ashamed of the fact that he could've gotten Jim killed earlier if Dr. Watson had been more leaning towards Khan's opinions of Starfleet. Everyone else on the bridge seemed as hesitant as Uhura, but they all trusted Jim with their lives, and that made Jim feel a swell of pride in his chest. His decision had been acknowledged and reluctantly accepted amongst his family (because they _were_ his family) and that made him happy.

* * *

The next couple weeks were slow moving for the Enterprise. They had not encountered much in space so far, just meteorites and deserted rock planets that were uninhabitable for most life forms. Jim diligently recorded his thoughts in his Captain's Log nonetheless.

Chekov, Bones, Spock, and Jim himself were the only ones to engage John Watson in communication. Most of the crew avoided him when they could (which was always).

Spock checked up on Dr. Watson to receive McCoy's report of how the super human was behaving and to see for himself how things were going, and Jim came to do the same (though he also stuck around to joke with the two and mess with Bones).

Bones had taken a hesitant, gruff liking to his quick-learning assistant, teaching him the odds and ends of almost every form of medicine still practiced today. The British man didn't mind Bones' metaphors, either, which Bones appreciated.

Chekov talked to Dr. Watson often. The kid (although he was probably eighteen or nineteen years old by now) had found a new adult to look up to. Dr. Watson regaled him with stories of Afghanistan, war stories and adventure stories, and he told him about life on Earth over three hundred years ago. Chekov talked about Russia in hushed undertones, so low voiced that Jim couldn't make out what he said when he eavesdropped. Dr. Watson seemed to be like a father or a therapist to Chekov, where Jim was like an older brother he aspired to be like and McCoy and Spock were his respected uncles. At least, that was Jim's view on what he thought Chekov's mind process was like. He couldn't be sure.

Sulu, Scotty, and Uhura avoided the doctor completely. Jim didn't mind. They didn't have to mingle with the super human, it wasn't required.

Dr. Watson seemed to be thriving in his new position.

However, when he thought no one was looking, John looked rather sad, missing the one friend he couldn't have.

* * *

_Get ready for some real action and stuff or something in the next chapter! Shit's gonna go down!_

_Also, I was thinking about using the canon pairing of Spock/Uhura as a sort of background thing, but I thought I'd ask first if anyone has any favorite pairings they'd like to request. I won't be focusing on any of those pairings (unless it was John/Khan or Kirk/? because they're very important), they'd just be side things. I will say that I will not write Chulu or McKirk because I don't understand those pairings very well so I'd be inadequate at writing them and I don't want to ruin your read._

_Then again, we don't need any pairings at all. Just give me your thoughts and I'll run with them. Thanks!_


	10. Itch

_Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or Sherlock. I'm just kind of floundering around here._

_So this chapter was going to be like three times longer but school started and I've been swamped with work. Please forgive me._

_Warnings: Bad guys, me being ignorant about most things Star Trek, and butchering of Chekov's accent. I don't know any Russians, so..._

* * *

"The Enterprise. A ship from Starfleet, one of its finest. Her captain is young, along with lots of the top crew members. Her crew defeated the Romulan ship Narada."

"How do you know, ma'am?"

"Hacked Starfleet communications a year or two ago, but they've upped their security so I'm not sure why the ship was out of commission for so long. Finally, though, we'll have her. She's coming this way, I'm sure. God, how I love her- I'll have her soon."

"Who, ma'am?"

"The ship, the ship! Dear god, you're so dull. Put the cloaking device on, they're getting within range."

"Yes, ma'am, right away- and good timing, too, the crew is getting restless."

* * *

"Keptin on zhe bridge," Ensign Chekov announced as Jim walked in and moved to sit in his captain's chair.

"Mr. Sulu, how are we doing?" Jim asked in a calm voice. He had been having bizarre dreams lately that he enjoyed, but they left him incredibly confused and a little frustrated. He found it hard to meet Spock's eyes today.

"It's been smooth sailing so far, Captain," Hikaru Sulu replied with a slight upturn of his lips. Nyota Uhura must've heard the smile in Sulu's voice, because she turned towards them from her station, only to put her hand over her face to stifle a laugh. Jim's eyebrows knitted together. What was going on here?

Spock came on the bridge moments later. "Captain, Mr. Scott has asked me to inform you that-" His eyes widened slightly when he saw Jim and an eyebrow went up. He stopped talking.

"Alright, what is it? What's so funny?" Jim asked, feeling irritated and a little nervous. There's no way Spock or anyone else on the bridge knew about his dream last night. It wasn't possible.

There was a moment of silence on the bridge as everyone exchanged glances, biting their lips or covering their mouths so they wouldn't smile. Spock opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. "Captain, I do believe it is my duty to inform you that your uniform is inside out and you have neglected to groom your hair."

Jim gaped like a fish. "Wha-?" He spluttered. Lieutenant Uhura pulled a pocket mirror out of her uniform pocket, and Jim snatched it from her hand to see if this was true.

It was. Jim's blonde-brown hair was messed up and sticking out all over the place, his yellow Starfleet uniform shirt was inside out, and he had a bit of crusty stuff on the corner of his mouth, much to his embarrassment. God, how disoriented had he been this morning?!

"I'm gonna go- uh- fix that," he stammered, and he quickly fled the bridge.

He returned about ten minutes later looking much more captain-like.

"Keptin on zhe bridge," Ensign Chekov announced once more as Jim moved to sit in his captain's chair. Jim turned his head to look at Spock.

"Mr. Spock, you were saying something about Scotty earlier, what was it?" Jim asked.

"He merely wanted to inform you that everything was running smoothly." Spock told Jim in his ordinary, emotionless voice.

"Sir," Lieutenant Uhura interrupted suddenly, "we're being hailed."

"What ship?" Jim asked, using his captain voice. "Mr. Chekov, have we got a ship out there?"

"I cannot find a ship, sir." The ensign said, frantically tapping his touch screen control panel and swiping at things Jim couldn't see from his chair. "If zhere iz one, it iz using a cloaking device or iz wery far out of range."

"Answer it, Lieutenant Uhura," Jim said, and the image of a human woman was shown up on the large screen-window.

"Hello, this is Dr. Margret Schieffer, am I speaking to a member of Starfleet?" She said. Dr. Schieffer had pretty blue eyes and frizzy, curly brown hair. Her skin was an olive color, and her lips had red lipstick covering them. She was a bit too old and panicked for Jim's tastes, though.

Jim leaned forward slightly in his chair. "You are. This is Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the USS Enterprise. What ship are you hailing from?"

"Oh, thank god! I'm currently on a Klingon ship near you. I managed to kill enough Klingons that I could take control enough to hail you. Please, you have to rescue me- oh, god, I think more are coming!" A tear dripped from her eye as she glanced back in a panic. Her breathing was ragged.

Jim's lips tightened into a thin line in frustration as Chekov indicated with his facial expressions that he still could not find the ship. "Dr. Schieffer, we cannot do anything if we don't know where the ship is. It is not visible to us, is there a cloaking device you an disable?"

"I'll try. Let me see-" The woman moved out of view for a moment. Everyone on the bridge held their breath. A Klingon ship?

Jim, Spock, and Uhura recalled their last encounter with Klingons grimly. They had been hopelessly outmatched until Khan came along and killed everyone for them. Jim remembered how confused and surprised he had been when Khan had immediately surrendered after learning that there were exactly seventy two torpedoes. Of course, now he knew why. He remembered with no pleasure how he'd hit Khan again and again, to no effect.

"I got it!" Schieffer cried triumphantly, and Chekov gasped.

"Zhere is a huge Klingon warship to the left of us, Keptin!" The young Russian exclaimed in fear.

"There are more Klingons coming, I can hear them!" Shieffer whispered in terror. "Please hurry! They'll probably put the cloaking device back up!"

"How many more people are on board the ship, Doctor?" Spock asked suddenly.

Shieffer paused. "About twenty. We were-" and then the transmission ended. Jim leaned forward in his seat, mouth open briefly in shock.

"The transmission ended, sir," Lieutenant Uhura reported unnecessarily, and everyone looked at Jim, wondering what he would do.

Jim himself was deep in thought. Lives could be at stake. Twenty or more humans trapped on a Klingon ship- But could he risk his own crew against such horrible odds? He gritted his teeth and leaned back in his chair. How could they defeat enough Klingons to-

An image of Khan killing a huge number of Klingons on Qo'noS flashed through Jim's mind.

John Watson could defeat the Klingons for them and rescue the humans. He is a super human, and he's a soldier. Jim could probably send down Watson and a few of his crew members to keep an eye on Watson. Spock fought toe to toe with Khan, apparently, so maybe he could go. Watson would protect his new crew-members, and if he didn't, Spock could end him.

"Alright, Mr. Spock," Jim said after a moment of heavy silence. "Grab a few redshirts, someone from sickbay, and Dr. Watson. You'll be boarding the ship. Set phasers to kill. Let Dr. Watson bring a medical kit, but have the sickbay assistant do most of the medical treatment. Dr. Watson will be taking out Klingons. Lieutenant Uhura, keep an ear out for any transmissions. Don't forget comms. I'll be waiting for your reports once you reach the ship. Mr. Chekov, get the transporter ready."

"Yes, sir." Chekov said, hitting a few buttons on his screen. Spock inclined his head in acknowledgment and left the bridge. Jim allowed himself to smirk a little. They would be able to test Dr. Watson's loyalty, rescue some people, and kill some Klingons. Perfect day already.

Except it wasn't.

* * *

"They took the bait."

"Good."


	11. John Doesn't Understand Klingon

_Sorry about the delay. School and all that. Also sorry about the chapter length- wanted to get something up before Monday._

_Also, I have no idea what being transported is like, so I made some stuff up._

* * *

"Doctor McCoy, I believe I'll need to borrow your assistant and one of your subordinates." Commander Spock said as he strode into sickbay. John blinked and McCoy narrowed his eyes in suspicion. There were several redshirts with the Vulcan.

"What do you need them for?"

"There are about twenty humans trapped aboard a Klingon ship to port. Dr. Watson and the crew members with me will help defeat any Klingons we encounter and rescue the humans. A subordinate of yours will provide any medical aid we need." Spock informed them. He nodded at a blue-skinned nurse, who hurried to get a medical kit.

"Well, you heard the man," McCoy said, turning to John. "Get a phaser and get moving. I want you back in one piece."

John shifted. "I don't have a phaser."

"Here," Spock said, "take this one." The Vulcan handed John a phaser with only a hint of hesitation. "It is set to stun now. When Ensign Chekov beams us aboard the Klingon ship, set it to kill. We are depending on your assistance to rescue the civilians."

John took the phaser and eyed it. He figured out how to shoot it within a matter of moments, though of course he did not fire it in the sickbay. He felt like he was being tested. John wouldn't fail them; he'd kill the Klingons. He would not betray the Enterprise like Khan did.

* * *

John watched nervously as Pavel Chekov pressed some things on his touchscreen panel and muttered to himself. Khan's betrayal seemed to be on everybody's minds, since the silence was tense and several crewmembers appeared high strung. The Captain was eating an apple in his chair, relaxing, but his eyes were dark and brooding.

"I've locked on to zhe Klingons' position, sir. Ready to transport at any meenute." The teen reported after a moment. Captain Kirk smiled slightly.

"See you on the flip side, Mr. Spock. You guys be careful. Oh, and Doctor Watson?" Kirk's vibrant blue eyes met John's slightly duller ones.

"Yes, sir?"

"Make me proud." (aka, "don't betray us or I'll kill you")

"Yes, sir."

Chekov pressed a few more buttons and John saw white as he was taken apart to his basic protons and reassembled somewhere else. It was a feeling you'd never forget, something not quite painful, but still uncomfortable, like a strong wind was blowing rain at you and_ through _you, like a group of fairies was pulling at your body and then pushing at it. A really hard to describe sort of feeling.

John blinked and then there was a rather surprised group of Klingons staring at him. The sound of phasers firing blasted in John's ears as he switched his phaser to "kill" while the others shot at the enemy. A few moments more of shooting, John included this time, and there were no enemy survivors. John let out a breath as the blue nurse checked the redshirts over; no injuries.

"We have to find Dr. Schieffer," Spock said, and John looked at him with a confused expression on his face.

"Who is that?" John asked.

"The woman who alerted us to the fact that she and several others are being held hostage here." Spock explained, glancing around as the red shirts checked for any hiding Klingons.

John frowned. "How did she do that? What's the motive for the Klingons capturing the humans? Are you sure-"

"You have your orders, Doctor." Spock told him with a look that said "that's enough." John swallowed his words and nodded. He hated deferring to these people but he needed to do so if he wanted to see Khan again. John still hadn't told Khan how he felt-

But he needed to focus now.

"We'll split up to cover more ground. Clancy, Franco, Xavier, Rudra, you take the starboard side. Take Nurse Ava with you." Spock said, and the blue nurse nodded and went off with four redshirts: one redheaded male, two male brunets, and an alien of some sort that might have been male. "Poke, you're with Watson and I. We're taking port." Spock said to the remaining redshirt, a bespectacled male, who clutched his phaser a little tighter and nodded grimly. The three of them crept through strangely empty corridors. John began to feel like something was very, very wrong here.

They finally found doors to three rooms that seemed important. John couldn't read Klingon, but Spock signalled for them to check out the rooms. Poke eyed the keypads that would unlock the doors with trepidation, but John solved the problem by grabbing a door and ripping it open with a horrible sound of shredding metal. Both Spock and Poke covered their ears and glanced around nervously in case a Klingon heard the noise and came to investigate. No one was around. John did the same to the other two doors. Inside the rooms it was dark and cold, and John shivered, the cool air reminding him of his time in the cryopod. Spock investigated the first room, Poke investigated the second, and John took the third.

John's room had lots of cabinets in it, and good places to hide if you didn't want to be seen from the doorway. Opening a cabinet (he pulled with normal superhuman strength, which broke the lock) revealed lots of weaponry and a few files in the same language that labeled the rooms. John wasn't sure what the files said, but it didn't matter because this room did not have the people in it that they were looking for.

He heard Poke call out, "Nothing here," and Spock confirm that there was nothing in his room, either. John was about to do the same when he heard the sound of running footsteps, lots of them. He ducked behind one of cabinets and clutched his phaser tightly, holding his breath. There was a lot of yelling in a different language and shots were fired. A woman's voice said, "Drop your weapon or Mr. Red Shirt here won't be alive for much longer."

John tensed. There was the sound of a phaser being dropped. Spock dropped his weapon? That did not seem to be a logical thing that he'd do, unless he believed that he was outnumbered.

"Sorry, boys," the woman's voice said, voice dripping with smugness, "it looks like you've fallen right into my trap. There aren't any 'helpless humans' for you to rescue in these rooms, or in any rooms. I lied. How'd you get these doors open, anyway?"

"Vulcans are known for their superior strength," Spock said, and John blinked. Vulcans couldn't lie. Why did Spock say- Oh. It wasn't really a lie, was it? Vulcans _were _known for strength that was superior to humans. Spock just didn't answer the woman's question. Spock must be covering up for John in hopes that John would find the others and come up with a plan to rescue Spock and Poke.

"Well, I know that eight of you beamed aboard, Mr. Spock. There are two of you here. Where are the rest of you?"

Spock paused. "On board. We split up to cover more ground." Good. Not a lie, but not very specific either. Spock could be a lawyer.

"Well, we'll find them, mark my words." The woman then spoke at a length in Klingon and there were thumps (as if two people had been hit in the head) and the sound of two bodies hitting the floor. John suppressed a groan. They had knocked the two unconscious, apparently, and now were taking them away. John was on his own. He had to find Nurse Ava and redshirts Xavier, Rudra, Franco, and Clancy and warn them that it was a trap.

How he would do this, he wasn't sure.


	12. Comms Are Down

_Street cleaners focus on heat and movement, so the best strategy is to be dead already._

_IT IS STREET CLEANING DAY_

_*ahem* please excuse my weirdness. I have been addicted to Welcome To Night Vale for several months now._

_so school is evil and writing is wonderful. sorry about late updates now and in the future~_

* * *

Spock did not try to break the handcuffs binding his wrists together. He was not sure if that could free him, and even if it could, he was still trapped in a cell whose glass he may or may not have been able to break. If he succeeded, there was no guarantee he could kill all of the guards, and if he didn't succeed, the consequences might be deadly.

No, he decided, no, he wouldn't try to escape. Yet. He'd just hope that John Watson was not a traitor and would meet with the others and get a message out to the Enterprise that this was a trap.

The purpose of the trap was unknown. The woman whose name may or may not have actually been Schieffer paced outside of the cell Poke and Spock were held in, waiting impatiently for news of the rest of Spock's boarding party. Poke was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest and his head in his arms, looking desolate. Spock himself was sitting on the single cot there, back ramrod straight and cool gazed fixed on the enemy. No word yet. Schieffer was frustrated. This was good.

* * *

John breathed slowly as he stood just around the corner from a chatting trio of Klingons. He held a large machine gun-like weapon and a large dagger, having tucked his phaser in his belt in favor of the more dangerous Klingon weapons he took from some corpses now stacked neatly in a small closet. His shirt had several tears in it from scuffles with the enemy. He'd had no luck so far in finding the rest of the Enterprise crew members on board, which made him nervous. Had they been captured already?

No time for that. He had to focus. John took a deep breath and darted around the corner right at the surprised Klingons. He cut one's throat with his knife and clocked the other one on the head with his gun, knocking him (or a very manly her) unconscious before any could draw weapons. The remaining Klingon pulled out a small phaser, but John knocked it out of his hands with a kick and lunged close, plunging the knife into the alien's chest with enough force to go through body armor and whatever bones and flesh protected vital organs. John yanked the knife out and the Klingon dropped to the floor and died with a choked gurgle. This was John's twelfth kill, and he still hadn't broken a sweat. He placed the large gun on the floor and tucked the knife into his belt before glancing around for the nearest out-of-sight spot to dump the bodies. He ended up dragging all three behind something that might have been a large engine or drawers. John wasn't really good with all this modern alien technology, especially when it involved spacecrafts. Everything looked very complicated and strange to him.

John was just brushing his hands off when another Klingon strolled in and halted in his tracks at the sight of John. It let out an angry cry and started firing shots from its machine gun. John swore and ducked back behind the large machinery thing, accidentally stepping on a dead guy's wrist and snapping it. A plan formed in John's mind and he didn't hesitate- John vaulted over the machinery and landed in a crouch in front of the Klingon. He swept the Klingon's legs out from under him with his own left leg and pulled out his knife as the Klingon fell flat on its back. John climbed on top of the winded Klingon and wrapped one hand around its neck, other hand raising the knife high. The blade came down into the alien's throat, killing him.

John stood and stretched, popping his shoulders, then wincing slightly when he realized that one bullet had pierced his right arm. He ripped off that sleeve with his teeth. This next bit would hurt a bit, he knew, but it had to be done. He'd only killed thirteen of the possible hundred or two Klingons on the ship, and he couldn't kill the rest with a bullet bothering his arm. John wedged the tip of the knife under the bullet and wriggled the offending piece of metal out using the knife as a lever. The squelching sound was nasty, and it _did_ hurt, but John's grim expression never changed. The experience wasn't anything new.

He watched as the flesh slowly began to close up. It might be another ten minutes until the arm was fully functional again. Usually bullets only nicked or grazed super humans, but John had been hit at semi-close range, and he wasn't the best of the batch. His old shoulder wound that had scarred back before he'd met Khan had come from being impaled in the shoulder by a sharp metal beam he hadn't been able to avoid that had been coming down on him at high speeds. The leg injury was from when his leg had gotten trapped under another beam and it hadn't healed quite right. It only bothered him every now and then.

"Right," he muttered, looking around. "Riiiiight." He wasn't quite sure which way to go.

Oh! That's right, they had comms. He could talk to the crew and tell them what happened. Although, if they'd been captured, that would alert the enemy to his position.

John was a soldier and a doctor. He knew battle tactics, and he could heal and kill better than your average guy. Better than your average human, in fact, ever since the experiments changed him. However, his sense of direction wasn't great, and he was indecisive about comm.-ing the others. He wasn't exactly sure how these new kinds of comms. worked. Did one message go to all of them, or did he have to open a specific link with certain people?

What if he could tell the Captain on the Enterprise that it was a trap? Then the Captain could beam them out and they could just fire at the Klingon ship!

Of course, he could only do that if he knew how to use a comm. No one had shown him how to do it, they had just taken for granted that since he'd been an officer on a ship before, he was expected to know how to use one. No one had realized that comms. had been invented _after_ he'd been put to sleep.

"This," John said as he continued looking around, "this here is bloody _fantastic_, that's what this is. Stupid, stupid, stupid, what're you going to do now? 'Oh, don't worry, Doctor, everything will be fine, it's just a small rescue mission.' Horse shit, right there. This is a bloody mess." He threw his hands up in the air briefly, then took a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. You'll be fine. "Alright, then, might as well get going. Spock sent them to starboard, and John was currently over on the starboard side instead of port. The ship was too big, god.

* * *

It took him twenty minutes to find a friendly face.

Within those twenty minutes, John killed over fifty Klingons and put dents in several important-looking things. He had to replace his machine-gun-thing several times when he ran out of ammo. His blade had snapped in half so he filched a new one.

The friendly face he ended up finding was blue.

When John heard the quiet breathing of another living creature after killing everything visible in the room, he locked himself back into soldier mode. He crept carefully closer to where the sound was coming from, then rounded the corner and pointing his gun at...the blue nurse. He lowered his gun with a sigh. "Jesus Christ, Ava, you scared me."

"Well," she said with surprising calm. "You scared me too, so I think we're even."

"Where're the others?" John asked as he ripped a piece of fabric from the uniform of one Klingon and used it to wipe his blade clean.

"Captured. We heard a group of noisy Klingons talking and laughing as they approached, so Franco told me to hide until they'd killed them. Instead, they were captured, so I waited here." Ava took a few deep breaths and peered around, checking for any more Klingons.

John sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Great. That's...that's just great."

"Is your comm. working?" Ava asked suddenly.

"I don't know." John laughed bitterly. "I don't know how to use it."

"Give it to me." Ava held out a manicured hand, and John obediently gave her the device. She spoke into it after pressing something. "This is Nurse Ava to bridge. Does anyone copy?" Silence. "Captain Kirk? Can you hear me? Captain?" Silence again. Ava tossed the comm. back to John. "They must be scrambling the signal."

"I'd bet that they've blocked the ability to beam us out, too," John remarked. He took a gun from the corpse of one Klingon and threw it in her direction. She caught it clumsily, but once she had a firm grip on it, she held it like she was born to wield it. John raised an eyebrow and she just shrugged her shoulders.

"We going to the brig to bust them out?" She asked.

John paused before speaking. "I'm not a Klingon general, but I've got the feeling that this isn't about capturing us and killing us. I think there's a reason we were lured here. They want something from Kirk, else why would they take everyone alive? They were taken alive, yes?"

"Yeah, as far as I could tell. I _was_ hiding, after all."

"Then they'll probably be at the bridge. We'll head there." John began walking away.

"Hold on, you lost me. Why the bridge?" Ava hurried to catch up, not bothering to walk around the dead bodies. She stepped on them instead.

"They want a show! They want Kirk to know that they have Spock and the rest. On the bridge there's big screens- An audience, a stage. They want something. They want to make a trade, maybe. Come on, I know how to get to the bridge." John turned a corner and then stopped, putting a finger to his lips.

Ava bumped into him, then backed up. She whispered, "How?"

"We'll just follow them," he whispered back, making a hand gesture in the direction of the next turn. Ava tried to listen to whatever it was that John heard- Ah! Klingons.

* * *

Jim Kirk paced in front of his chair anxiously. Uhura tried to contact Spock, Watson, and all of the redshirts several times, to no avail. There'd been no word for over an hour. The Klingon ship had cloaked itself again, and not even Chekov could find their crewmembers aboard the enemy vessel. Jim wanted to hit himself. How could he have sent his crew- his family- into danger like that without having enough intel?

"You did what you thought was best, Jim," Bones said, and Jim jolted. Had he spoken aloud? And when had Bones gotten in here?

"Montgomery Scott came down and told me about what's going on. I thought you might need some moral support. How's it going, Lieutenant Uhura? Any communications yet?"

"No, nothing." Uhura looked worried, which was nice, considering that she was still pissed at Spock for breaking up with her, even though it was really her fault for kissing that engineer (Jim heard all the juicy gossip from Scotty, who really should probably learn how to keep his mouth shut.)

"Goddamnit," Jim muttered under his breath for the billionth time.

"Wait," Uhura said urgently, "we're being hailed."

"Put 'em on!" Kirk commanded.

A moment passed, then a face appeared onscreen. "Hello, captain, nice to see you again."


End file.
